The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is to donate fees derived across all asset classes traded on Wednesday 15 April and Thursday 16 April as part of a brand-new campaign #Trade4Solidarity to the Solidarity Fund.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the Solidarity Fund on 23 March 2020 to unite the nation in action against the COVID-19 crisis. The Fund is a rapid response vehicle designed to fund impactful initiatives that will augment the national health response contributions to national humanitarian efforts. The third focus area of the fund aims to mobilize South Africans to flatten the curve and manage the pandemic and its impacts on households and communities.
Announcing the launch of #Trade4Solidarity campaign, JSE Group CEO Leila Fourie said the “JSE staff and executive team had felt that this was a very tangible way in which they could answer the president’s call to #PlayYourPart. How we respond to this pandemic has been our greatest Thuma Mina moment, not just for us, but for the country.”
The #Trade4Solidarity initiative encourages market participants to join the JSE by contributing a portion or percentage of their trading revenues to the fund. To mark the occasion, the chairperson of the Solidary Fund, Gloria Serobe and Leila Fourie will host the JSE’s first virtual market open as the market begins to #Trade4Solidarity on Wednesday 15 April. This will take place via a live video feed and be broadcast on all the JSE’s social media platforms on Twitter: @JSE_Group, LinkedIn: JSE and Facebook: The JSE Group.
Director of Capital Markets Valdene Reddy adds that “We have seen companies pivot to making hand sanitisers and face masks, individuals, corporates and consortiums making meaningful contributions where required. #Trade4Solidarity allows us to make our own contribution to what is the greatest public health crisis this world has witnessed in recent history,” Reddy said.
Fourie also announced that the JSE, as a private commitment to the spirit of the President’s call, had decided to find means to continue to support its suppliers, service providers and contractors during this period, and not suspending contractor services at this crucial time.
“We all have to do our bit; we have to support each other so that we can ensure that job losses are kept to a minimum – and that salaries are paid at the end of the month. This is another tangible way in which we believe we can help, so I encourage everyone in the trading community where possible to join the call and stand together with us as we support the Solidarity Fund to make a difference,” Fourie concluded.